Is this silkie “fully feathered”?

[Fancychicken10]

Hello! I am happy to report that my 3 chicks (1 silkie cockerel, 1 Andalusian pullet, 1 Sumatra pullet) are 7 weeks and the girls at least are fully feathered. They are in a large cage in the garage and haven’t had heat in about a week. I am very attached to them and the Andalusian in particular falls asleep on me every night on the couch before I put her to bed. Temps are starting to dip though and I don’t want to lose a temp

window for them to acclimate in their own section of the adult coop. I am running the heat plate for the silkie roo the next few days since lows will be briefly touching high 30’s overnight. Can you take a look at the pic of him and let me know if he is “fully feathered”? I am nervous putting him out since the girls don’t always sleep on the ground with him and roost overnight the majority of the time. Lows will be coming back up to 40-50F in a couple days. Is this little boy good to go at that point? Would you remove their roost so he is able to cuddle with them for warmth? Sorry for so many questions, I am nervous for him but don’t want them in the garage all winter. I’d prefer not to run a heater out there since it would involve significant extension cords.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Hello! I am happy to report that my 3 chicks (1 silkie cockerel, 1 Andalusian pullet, 1 Sumatra pullet) are 7 weeks and the girls at least are fully feathered. They are in a large cage in the garage and haven’t had heat in about a week. I am very attached to them and the Andalusian in particular falls asleep on me every night on the couch before I put her to bed. Temps are starting to dip though and I don’t want to lose a temp View attachment 3965327window for them to acclimate in their own section of the adult coop. I am running the heat plate for the silkie roo the next few days since lows will be briefly touching high 30’s overnight. Can you take a look at the pic of him and let me know if he is “fully feathered”? I am nervous putting him out since the girls don’t always sleep on the ground with him and roost overnight the majority of the time. Lows will be coming back up to 40-50F in a couple days. Is this little boy good to go at that point? Would you remove their roost so he is able to cuddle with them for warmth? Sorry for so many questions, I am nervous for him but don’t want them in the garage all winter. I’d prefer not to run a heater out there since it would involve significant extension cords.

He still is a bit small not all feathering yet.
Will they kick him off if you put him on the roost ?

 

[Yardmom]

My Silkies "roost" with their moms well before 7 weeks. I have roosts about a foot off the ground for them. At 7 weeks I would not worry about adding heat.

 

[Fancychicken10]

He still is a bit small not all feathering yet.
Will they kick him off if you put him on the roost ?

They would not, but he has never shown any comprehension of what perching means. From a few days old my girl chicks were perching on my finger and jumping to perch on my phone while I was holding it up. Little man has never perched successfully despite me trying to put him on the roosts or my finger etc. As far as his feathering, what do you see are “missing”? No visible pin feathers?

 

[Fancychicken10]

My Silkies "roost" with their moms well before 7 weeks. I have roosts about a foot off the ground for them. At 7 weeks I would not worry about adding heat.

That is encouraging. I moved their run outside for most of the day today with max temps in the low 50’s with lots of wind; they are back in the garage overnight. Little man was fine all day and surprised me with how puffy he can get to build insulation. I do think I will pull the girls roost so he can have some body warmth with them for a few days if they go out next weekend. Based on this, would you say he is good to go out?

 

[pennyJo1960]

That is encouraging. I moved their run outside for most of the day today with max temps in the low 50’s with lots of wind; they are back in the garage overnight. Little man was fine all day and surprised me with how puffy he can get to build insulation. I do think I will pull the girls roost so he can have some body warmth with them for a few days if they go out next weekend. Based on this, would you say he is good to go out?

I have a tractor I put my Banty in I thought his wings had no feathers yet.

 

[Debbie292d]

My Silkies "roost" with their moms well before 7 weeks. I have roosts about a foot off the ground for them. At 7 weeks I would not worry about adding heat.

My silkies won't even let three-month-olds in the coop, much less that age. They get picked on, so we have two grow-out coops with cozy coop heaters in them. Tonight, it will be 28F, and that may be fine to some, but I don't take chances. Those are safe, and if they need it, they can lean on it; if not, they can move away.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I grew up in Wisconsin till I was 8.

 

[schrody]

I have a silkie that is 11 weeks old and much more feathered than your picture. They probably won't have all their feathers established until week 14 I guess. I've had silkies from the same mom and rooster have varying feathering as adults. 2 silkie hens that hatched at the same time are identical and don't have much feathering on the face, and i have 1 silkie pullet close to laying age that is so fluffy I have to give her a haircut every few weeks just so she can see.